Clutch



Jan. 8 1924.

A. T. STURT ET AL CLUTCH Filed Aug. 17. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 AWUIOWLW Jan. 8, 1924. 1,479,971

A. T. sTuRT ET AL CLUTCH Filed Aug. 17 1.921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS eorye 05/ M [if/5'" 'r 2 (10;. ATTORNEY Pit t d Jute, 1 24. ,umrsn mm 1-. s'ronr, or 1mm, MICHIGAN, m season a. n. 1., nssrouons 'ro Dom-r morons mconronnrnn,

nonrnson; or! new romp n conromrron or DELA- CLUTCH.

Application ma August 17, 1021. Serial No. mere.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthatwe, Ann-nan T. S'rrm'r and Gnonon H. Ronmsoxv, citizens of the United States, and residents, respective of Flint, county of Genesee,.State of Michigen, and borough of Manhattan, city and btateof New certain new and .useful Improvements in Clutches, of which the following is a speci- 10.

fication.

This invention relates to an improved clutch adapted for use on motor vehicles gagement that the torque transmitted is suband designed to effect gradualengagement between -the driving member and a driven member without the use of numerous and costly parts that have been found necessary to use in clutches as heretofore used. 1

;One of the objects of the invention is to so construct the clutch that the pickup is gradual and smooth and yet when the clutch rs fully engaged it eifectively holds the drivand driven elements in such ositive enstantiall the same as that of the driving shaft. 'other words, the arran ment is such that the pick-up is smooth an so that undue shocks are 'nottransmitted to the functions setorthl The invention herein described willbe thedriven mechanism. 1

Another object. is to provide aclutch that will graduall pick up its load and yet not sl'ig when in y-engaged.

further object 15 to provide a driven member including a disc which is kerfed to provide a resilient or yielding portion to permit the disc to pick up the'load gradually and to com ensate for any inequalities in the surface which it is adapted to enga e.

A still further ob'ect is to form axis disc with a central conoi a1 ortion andan outer substantiall flat. disc-l1 e portion having a plurality o kerfs out therein soas torener the member slightly resilient.

A further object is toprovide improved means for engaging and disengagingthe driving and driven members.

Another object is'to'combine and organize the various instrumentalitie's herein 'de scribed so that'the willefl'ectlvely'perform understood fromthe followingspecification when read inconnectionwit .the accompanying drawings in which. similar char- .acters represent similar parts in the several views.

the c utch assemb rk, have jointly invented:

" secured b co-action wit adual .line of flexure 13 betweemthe flat portion 11' In the drawings: Fi 1 is a longitudinal section showing y and associated partsa Fig. 2 is a detail view of an improved form of clutch disc, being a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. a i I lFig. 3 is a side elevation of saidclutchp. ate.

Fi 4 isa section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1 parts being broken away in the interest of clearness.

Fig. 5 is a front view of a self-lubricating clutch collar. 7

ll ig. 6 is an exaggerated diagrammatic detai In the drawings, 1' represents the rear end 'of an engine crank-shaft which is formed with a flan e 2 to which the fly wheel 3 is olts 4 passin throu h suitable holes in t e web 5 of the fly .whee The fly wheel is formed witha rearwardlyextending annular flan e 6 and outer gear teeth 7 for the starting motor. The inner face of the web 5 is lined with a loosel fitting ring of friction material 8 which wit the fly wheel constitutes one element of the clutch. The other element comprises our' improved form of resilient clutch disc' 9 which has aninner conoidal portion 10 and an outer substantially 'flat disc-like portion 11, in-which are cut a plurality of saw kerfs 12 which extend a short-distance beyond the and the conoidal portion 10. The innermost portion of the clutch disc 9 is flattened "at 14 and is formed with an opening 15 which seat's against a shoulder 16 forniedin a circular flange 17 on the end of a power transmitting shaft 18. The clutch disc is securedto thiscirc'ular flange by a series of rivets 19 which pass throughsuitable apertures formed in the portion 19 of the disc and the flange 17. In. making the clutch disc the flat faces of the portion 11 of'the clutch disc no ground smooth and after this 'is done the saw kerfs are out therein This results in permitting the segments between adjacent A kerfs to spring out of form a fewgthousandths of an inch, that is to say the surface S (Fig; 6), at the periphery of the disc is inia plane in front of the surface S' near the "line- -of flexure where the flat portion joins the conoidal portion as indicated in the exaggerated vre'w. r s v This slight distortion or'warping of the formed therein whic engages '6 of t e outer flat portion 11 of the clutch disc renders the disc slightly resilient so that when the disc is mov into engagement with the friction ring 8, the outer portion will first exert light yielding pressure on thefriction ring 8 and as the clutch is allowed to come into further engagement, the whole surface of the portion 11 will be seated snugly against the friction ring so as to positively hold it in driving engagement with the drivmember 3.

e front face of the clutch disc 9 corates with the loose friction ring 8 as ve described and in juxtaposition to the rear face of the portion 11 of the clutch disc there is loosely mounted a second friction ring 20. Behind the friction ring 20 is located a presure rin 21 having a notch 22 a pin 23 secured in the flan fly wheel, as shown in Fi 4. 0 pressure ring is fitted with a plura 'ty of bolts 24 having heads 25 formed thereon, which an ge shoulders 26 formed in said pressure ring. Each bolt 24 is provided wi a key 27 which fits in a suitable key seat cut in the pressure ring so as to prevent the bolt from turnin To the rear end of each bolt 24 is seen a nut 28 on which is formed a flange 29, the'nut beinge rovided with suitable screwthreads and mg locked in lace by a cotter pin 30. Associated evivitlliwfiac bolt 24 is ah air of oomparativ y spr' 31 w I, are seated against sprih g ret ii n ers 32 and 38. The bolt 24 1 freely through openings formed in rspring retainers, as shown.

- Each spring retainer 32 is seated against the p ring 21 and each spring,retainer 83 is w a clutch cover gate 34, which-plate is secured lts 35.to the rear flange 6 of the fly wheel. The clutch cover plate carries a pluralit of fitturgs' 36, each 0 which carries a stud 3 on whi iggpivotanlgdmounted a dog 38flhavjaws am to engage t e ange of thenut 28 carried b bolt 24. Each dog is provided wi an elongated shank 40 the end of which fits in a groove 41 formed in a clutch collar 42, which is slidably mounted on a hub 43 extendin rearwardly from the clutch cover plate The clutch collar 42 is formed 'witha hollow chamber 44 and carries a lubricant O adapted to be splashed on the shaft 18 and adjaoentpa as full described in an copending a p cation erial No, 492,950 filed concurren y herewith. This clutch collar is provided at the rear with an anti-friction thrust bea 45 having an enlarged flange IJaagainst :l'r ch the geegnds 4? of acIutch 00- r 0 yo impinge.

oke is :i rrifin a rock shaft 49 mounted m suitable carried on any sutable part of the chassis. At the outer end the abaft49carriesanarm50,theend51of by means of a la 52 formed on a foot op- The power transmittin shaft 18 is jour- Q J naled at one end in a bus ing 55 carried by the hub 43 of the clutch cover plate. The shaft is formed with an oil groove 56 which communicates with the interior chamber 44 of the clutch collar.

In operation the springs 31 normally exert sufiicient force inst the pressure ring 21 and friction ring 20 to hold the portion 11 of the resilient clutch disc flat inst the friction ri 8, thereby positively establishing the griving connection between the fly wheel 3 and the power transmitting shaft 18. In order to throw out the clutch ressure is exerted on the foot pedal 53, w ich rocks the shaft 49 and oke 48 .to the left, as shown in Fig. 1. is action slides the clutch collar 42 to the left, which in turn rocks the dogs 40 about their pivot 37 so as to withdraw the several bolts 24, which in turn withdraw the pressure ring 21, thereby removing the friction between the fly wheel 3 and the clutch disc 9, thus disconnecting the driving element from the driven element. When it is desired to engage the clutch the operator slowly lifts his oot, thus permitting the springs 31 to expand. This will result first in extreme outer yielding portion 11 o the disc 9 into =eent with the friction ring 8. By this action both members will revolve, the driving member revolving at a higher rate of s than the driven mem her because of e slight slippage. As the 5 rings 31 further expand t ey will gradua ly exert suflicient pressure on the flat surface of the disc 9 to smoothly pith: up. and transmit the wet to the driven shaft 18.

The kerf formation of'the clutch disc 9 permits the outer portion thereof to expand due to .the heat generated by friction and still retain its shape. The kerfed formation also permits the different individual segments between the kerfs to yield indepen entl to compensate forany inequalities in e thickness of the friction The clutch herein described is unimprovement over structures of this class heretofore built and it is thought to present a decided advancein this art.

The clutch is simple in design and comprises a few which are and chea ly manu actured and b and yet it very efiectively performs its function.

While we have described with great particulari the details of the embodiment herein ow:i it is not to be construed that we are thereto as cha in arrangementand substitutions o equivalents may be made by n theartwiflioutdepartingfromthemventhe into contact with the drivi weclaimasnew and desiretosecurebylaetters Patent is:

including a drive shaft and to a 1. A clutch a driving member and a driven member comprising a disc having an inner conoidal go tion and an outer comparativel flat slig t1 dished portion said disc also ving a plurality of kerfs formed therein to render it slightly resilient so that when it is moved member it will smoothly and gradually pic -up the load.

2. A clutch including a drive shaft and a driving member and a driven member comprising a disc having an inner conoidal portion and an outer comparativel flat portion, said disc also having a p uralit of radialkerfs therein forming ents w aresl ghtlyss outofap eandcan yieldmdepeu' y ofone another-so asto compensate for inequalities of the surface with which said disc en 8. A friction clutch including a drive shaft and a driving member having a flat surface substantia perpendicular to the drive shaft and a riven member comprising a disc having an OIINMOI'CiOH substantia ly parallel with the s ace of the drivin member and an inner eonoidal portion, said disc also having a plurality of kerfs therein to form independentlyl yielding slightly slirlmg segments, yiel 'ng means for norma ly holding the disc in o rative engagement with the driving mem r and means associated with said yielding means for disengaging the disc from the driving mem r.

Signed this 9th day of August 1921.

ALFRED T. STURT. GEORGE H. ROBINSON. 

